Comment: Increasingly angry Israeli rhetoric against the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign suggests the movement is becoming increasingly successful.
As Israeli politicians ramp up the rhetoric against the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign, two reports have suggested that much worse is in store for the movement which advocates economic and cultural disengagement from Israel.
First came a secret, Israeli government report obtained by business newspaper Calcalist. The internal document looked at the potential future impact of BDS on the country's economy - and the results are striking.
While avoiding full costings, according to the newspaper, "the blow to the economy has been characterised as devastating".
While the cancellation of trade agreements would lead to an estimated annual loss of $1.2 billion, even just an official boycott on goods from the occupied Palestinian territories "would shrink exports to Europe by $300 million".
The Ministry of Finance assessment, titled The Israeli economy is in the shadow of the delegitimisation campaign, predicts a worst-case scenario of "sanctions from EU countries and a widespread economic boycott" leading to a sharp fall in exports and capital inflow.
The second, much more widely publicised report, came from the Rand Corporation, whose study
predicted a boost of more than $120 billion to the Israeli economy over
the next decade, in the event of a peace deal with the Palestinians.
Calls for a boycott of Israel have been growing louder, to Tel Aviv's dismay [AFP]
